Still Fighting

Activism

Our rights deserve more than "No Comment". We're still a little torn about John Roberts. On one hand, he doesn't seem to be a raving lunatic like Scalia or Thomas. On the other hand, he's so coy that it's impossible to know. Frankly, the hearings we just witnesses were somewhat absurd, with Democrats asking questions about Roberts' positions on issues, and Republicans explaining why the public didn't need to know his positions because he was so overly qualified for the job. Of course, having only served two years on the bench, he may have the proper legal expertise, but the problem is that he doesn't have enough of a judicial record for us to know what he's going to do. Frankly, that's scary. And Roberts, regardless of how qualified he might be, should not just skate through hearings to determine if he can hold the highest judicial office in the land. So, go to the link above and write a letter to the editor explaining why all of the issues that Roberts will affect for possibly the next forty years should not just be waved away with a "no comment". If you don't do it now, then you forfeit your right to complain for the rest of Roberts' tenure.

News

A Polluter's Feast. Finally, a hard-hitting, in-depth article that looks at how the Bush administration has ruined the environment. And who better to publish this article than...Rolling Stone? Yup, and for anyone who thinks that Bush is an "environmental president," this article is tailor-made for you. In the last eight months, Bush has done more to ruin the environment that Reagan did in eight years. And it's getting worse. Even people who think that they know the administration's track record should take a look at this article. From air pollution to animal poisoning to drilling, BushCo has done a truly unique job in destroying the environment. Congratulation, Mr. President, for helping to destroy the land our children and our children's children will inherit.

New Poll Reflecting the 2006 Election. It's always interesting to see where public opinion is. For example, we know that public opinion has Bush's approval rating in the crapper. We also now know that the majority of Americans would vote to elect a Democratic candidate in 2006. Young, old, men, women - every demographic shows a larger percentage would vote for a Democratic candidate (except Republicans and married folks). And, interestingly enough, although more people would like to see their members of Congress re-elected in 2006, a larger percentage of people would not like to see most members of Congress re-elected. To us, this means that Democrats are in a prime position to take back many seats in the House and Senate. Let's not spend money on races we know we're going to win, but instead on races we need to win (dethroning Santorum, the empty Senate seat in Tennessee, the special election in California in a few months, etc.).

Bush Rules Out Tax Hike to Fund Recovery. Well, of course he does. Can't appear unpopular, can he? Someone needs to tell Bush that his father made the promise of "No new taxes," not him. It was bad enough when billions of dollars were earmarked for a War we didn't want; now, estimates of Katrina's cost will rival those of Iraq. It's said that deficit will be raised by $200 billion or more. When asked if he realized the magnitude of the cost, and where that money would come from, Bush said "You bet it's going to cost money. But I'm confident we can handle it and I'm confident we can handle our other priorities. . .It's going to cost whatever it costs." Not exactly a ringing endorsement, and we're sure to see more domestic spending cuts to offset. We're not exactly overjoyed at the prospect of suggesting that our taxes should be raised, but compared to losing more funding for vital programs, we'll take the tax raise. The outpouring of donations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina should show us that people ARE willing to give their money to worthwhile causes, although frankly, we can't blame them if they don't trust THIS leadership with their cash.

Editorials

The Normality of Gay Marriages. This brief editorial in the New York Times shows exactly why gay marriage is not "tearing the fabric of American society." Unless you want to put forth the claim that those in Massachusetts are more socially advanced than the rest of society, the fact that 6,600 same-sex marriages have occured with no adverse affect on the rest of the state is proof that blowhards like Rick Santorum don't have the slightest clue what they are talking about. Santorum likes to preach that gay marriage is "unnatural," that it destroys the American idea of family. But if that's true, why is there no rioting in the streets? Why is there no public outcry over this "tragedy?" Why are Republican leaders in the state not declaring this a "miscarriage of justice," and instead siding with Democrats? The fact of the matter is that people like Santorum see homosexuality as an affront to their religion, and thus use terms like "unnatural" to justify their fear and "moral outrage," and that is, perhaps, the biggest miscarriage of justice of all.

Left Behind: Bush's Holy War on Nature. Chip Ward on Bush's track record. But, expanding on the environmental article in News #1, Ward goes into even more depth on the topics of public health, drilling in the arctic, and more. It can be summed up by this sentence: "This much is clear: The Bush administration does not respect a broad American consensus that the quality of our lives is directly linked to the integrity and health of the environment." We wish Ward's fiery speech and factual declarations were coming from Democrats, though.

Blogger Commentary

Sweet Home Alabama. In this day and age, the idea of segregated anything seems ludicrous. Yet that's exactly what's going on at the Tyson Food's Ashland, Alabama chicken processing plant. According to Steve Audio, the plant is being sued by 12 African-American workers. "Surely," you must be thinking, "this is some sort of mistake." Afraid not, loyal Still Fighting readers. There is a "Whites Only" bathroom, with a padlock on the door, and keys to the padlock are given to white employees. We are shocked, appalled and disgusted at this blatant act of segregation. We're not sure about you, but we're certainly going to stop purchasing Tyson's chicken, and advise others to do so as well. We refuse to give our money to companies that promote segregation, and we encourage you to stop too. They may not listen to reason, but they'll listen to their wallets.

Food Is Not Your Friend. This may come as a shock to you, but in this day and age, Teri Mills is right: Most food we eat nowadays is harmful to us. Obesity is on the rise in this country. How is this a political issue? Well, for the most part, it's not, although we do wish the government would make more of an effort to get people to be healthy. However, this is a matter of people needing to stay informed and take responsibility for their diets. That sounds downright conservative, we know! However, Teri Mills also touches on how this epidemic is a product of poverty (it's not cheap to eat healthy!), and isolation. Regardless, keeping people healthy is a progressive value.

Activism

Vote for a Grassroots All-Star. Ever complain about the lack of good candidates for public office? Well, now's your chance to put your mouse where your mouth is. Democracy for America is taking a poll, asking you to decide who they should endorse as the first member of their "DFA-List". An endorsement from DFA is pretty powerful, but the real power lies with those who participate in our democracy. If you have a local representative that you liek, vote for him or her. If you don't have a representative you like, go to the page and read about the possible selections, and then vote for the one that you think deserves the endorsement. Our country won't get better without our help.

News

Power Crews Diverted. Maybe it wasn't very judicious of us to accuse Cheney of being on vacation while Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. As it turns out, Cheney was quite busy, making important phone calls and giving critical directives. It seems that within hours of Katrina striking, Cheney's office called to order two power substations restarted. Those substations serve the Colonial Pipeline Company, which sends fuel to the Northeast. In the meantime, this order delayed efforts to restore power to the local area, including substations that serve local hospitals and medical centers. Apparently, the order was given to "avert a national fuel crisis". We're not sure about you, but given the choice between causing millions of people to have a hard time finding gas for a day, and providing medical assistance to hundreds of suffering people, we'd be willing to walk around for a day if necessary. It's really this simple: Cheney and people of his ilk care more about money and property than they do about people and their lives. You might be able to argue that this was critical infrastructure that needed to be maintained, but nonetheless, the story is incriminating: A potential fuel shortage was able to rouse Cheney from his vacation, but apparently the destruction caused by Katrina wasn't bad enough to keep him from returning to it.

Chertoff Delayed Federal Response, Memo Shows. It's official - we now know that Brownie was the administration's fall guy. How else can you explain it? Don't get us wrong - Mike Brown completely screwed up, and wasn't qualified for his job in the first place, but Chertoff shouldn't be let off the hook, either. The power to send federal agencies into action over Katrina laid with Chertoff until 36 hours after the storm. That means that Chertoff could have done something earlier, but did not. Chertoff, not Brown, was responsible for creating and implementing the National Response Plan. Chertoff was apparently "confused" about his role. Confused? You'll pardon our skepticism here. Say what you will about Tom Ridge, but we're fairly sure he wouldn't have been "confused" about his job description.

Support for Bush Continues to Drop, Poll Shows. In the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, Bush's approval rating continues to hover at 41%. For the first time ever, only half of the Americans surveyed approve of the way Bush is handling terrorism. Over 60% say that he doesn't share their priorities, while barely half say he has strong qualities of leadership. More Americans now distrust the federal government to do the right thing than at any time since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And finally, while half of all respondents disapprove of the way Mr. Bush has handled the aftermath of Katrina, nearly three-quarters of blacks do. What does this tell us? Simply what we've known all along - Bush is an ineffective leader; it just means that most Americans are waking up to it now.

Editorials

Parsing the Abortion Debate. Well, no one ever said that John Roberts wasn't smart. As Terry Neal writes, as he is cruising through his confirmation hearings, he neither confirmed nor denied his desire to overturn Roe v. Wade. Yet he did so in a way that left both sides thinking that he was on their side. Although many pro-choice groups are demanding that Roberts be up front and answer the abortion question, the sad truth is that he does not have to. And if his hearings continue as they have for the first three days, Roberts seems a shoe-in to be confirmed. Then again, there's always the possibility that we'll find out that he used to have an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper or something.

Time to Talk to Al-Qaeda? Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, associate director of the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University, has an editorial up in the Boston Globe where he suggests that, as this conflict enters it's fifth year, it might just be time to talk to Al-Qaeda. After all, neither side is ever going to "win" this war. While it is in the realm of possibility that we will succeed in liberating Iraq, we will never be able to truly stop Al-Qaeda; the organization is too large, too diverse, and constantly growing. And even with a nuclear weapon or three, Al-Qaeda will never succeed in bringing the whole of America to her collective knees. So, why not try to talk? It's not like we've made any progress capturing Osama...for reasons why, keep on reading.

Blogger Commentary

Did We Let Osama Get Away on Purpose? Of course not! Such a statement is completely ridiculous, right? Well, at this point, we're not quite sure to believe. It's pretty clear that the Bush Administration's incompetence knows no bounds, but at the same time, the details that have come our regarding what happened at Tora Bora imply that bin Laden's escape was more than a mere accident. We knew bin Laden was at Tora Bora. We sent only 36 troops in to get him. Contrast this with the forces we were able to mobilize to capture Saddam Hussein. Cenk Uygur outlines the details of this utter farce, and some possible explanations. Frankly, whether staggering incompetence or borderline treason, it doesn't matter: Bush is a failure and is completely incapable AND uninterested in keeping Americans safe.

Bankruptcy Laws: If They're Unfair To Victims of Katrina, They're Unfair To Everyone. We talked about this when the bill was passed, but Michael from AMERICAblog hits the nail on the head: If the bankruptcy bill is unfair to the victims of Katrina, then why is it fair to the rest of the country? Michael is right when he calls on Democrats to overturn this bill; however, they would have some trouble. The bill passed the Senate back in May by 74-25, which meant that quite a few Democrats voted to pass the bill (18, to be exact). You see, this is why leaders should always vote their conscience. If those 18 didn't vote for the bill, Democrats would be in a much stronger position to decry it now. If those 18 actually voted for the bill because they believed in it, then why do they still consider themselves Democrats?

Activism

Find Your Local American Red Cross Chapter. Of course, we still encourage you to donate money to the Red Cross, but we realize that not everyone is in a position to do so. However, if you can't donate money, there are a lot of other things that the Red Cross needs to help with the relief effort. In particular, the Red Cross always needs blood, which fortunately, is free to almost all of us! Use the link above to find your local chapter, and visit their website. In addition to blood, many local chapters can use other items as well. You might have something sitting around your house that the Red Cross can put to good use - it certainly doesn't hurt to check!

News

Police in Suburbs Blocked Evacuees, Witnesses Report. Last week, an obvious President Bush asked Nancy Pelosi "What didn't go right?" with the Katrina response. Well, it's tough to know where to start, as story after story of miscues and ineptness come to the surface. But, maybe, just maybe, a complete lack of leadership played a big part. Take this story, in which police actually blocked escape routes from New Orleans, and reportedly confiscated their food and water, because they feared massive crowds heading into the suburbs. Can you imagine such a situation? What if someone had coordinated an evacuation plan? What if someone had given reasonable instructions to the police force? When fear of "crowds" overwhelms public safety, you're dealing with a massively misguided police force. We wonder if the overblown reports of roving gangs and looters had anything to do with this reaction by the police. Regardless, it's completely unwarranted, and these officers should be ashamed and removed from duty.

G.O.P. Sees Opportunities Arising From Storm. "What opportunities?", you may ask. Opportunities to help people recover from Katrina? Opportunities to improve disaster relief programs? Maybe opportunities to prevent people from living in such poor conditions that they are unable to evacuate a city ahead of a deadly flood? No, of course not. Rather, they see opportunities to enact their conservative policial agenda. In the article, Treasury Secretary John Snow says "There are a lot of opportunities to experiment." Of course, he's talking about removing minimum wage standards for federal workers, which they've already done. And they're talking about supporting faith-based programs and implementing more tax breaks. One might think that when a region of the country has been devastated, it might be prudent to implement safer programs to get a wounded economy back on track. But not when there's political hay to be made. Remember, there's no tragedy you can imagine that Republicans won't exploit for political gain. There's gonna be a whole lot of collateral damage.

Verbatim: Noodle This, Kansas. After a lot of heavy, Katrina-related articles, it's time for something a bit lighter. Have you heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? If not, you can go here to learn more about this crucial creation theory. The FSM was proposed as an alternative theory to Intelligent Design, and centers around the concept that the universe was created by, what else by a Flying Spaghetti Monster, who manipulates the world with His Noodly Appendage. It may sound ridiculous, but when you stop and think about it, it's no less arbitary, and has just as much supporting evidence as the world's most popular religion. And so, fundamentally, we agree with Bobby Henderson, the founder of Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, who wrote to the Kansas school board insisting that his religion be taught alongside Intelligent Design. Can you really justify teaching one and not the other? How about we stick with facts?

Editorials

Iraq's fig leaf constitution. We harp on the Iraq invasion a lot, mostly because we now know that it was completely unjustified. But, let's assume for a second that it was justified, and for whatever reason you can make up, we needed to overthrow Saddam to insure our safety. We know, it's a hard exercise, but bear with us. Even if you accept that impossible-to-swallow pill, the war is still a failure. Why? Not because of the poor planning on the ground which has resulted in many more deaths than necessary, although that's a good argument. No, rather, the end result is going to be a pro-Iran state. Robert Scheer puts it best in his editorial, explaining why "No amount of crowing over a fig leaf Iraqi constitution by President Bush can hide the fact that the hand of the region's autocrats, theocrats and terrorists is stronger than ever." We can't undo the invasion. We can't resurrect the thousands of dead. But we still could try to set things right, and make sure that Iraq is more stable than when we left it. Of course, we won't.

Lowering Profiling's Profile. A Justice Department study of racial profiling revealed some good news and some bad news. The good news is that a driver's race seems to have little bearing on whether or not he or she gets pulled over. The bad news is that once drivers are pulled over, what happens afterwards is race-dependent: Hispanics and blacks are significant more likely than whites to get arrested, handcuffed, or to have their vehicles searched. This is disturbing data, and clear evidence that our law enforcement system has some problems that need to be fixed. Of course, in order to fix the problem, people need to know about it. But the really disturbing part is that a Justice Department official who refused to suppress the unfortunate data in a news release was himself released a few weeks later. This is data that doesn't necessarily even reflect poorly on the Bush Administration; it makes no reference to whether this phenomenon has increased or decreased since Bush too office. How can we begin to fix a problem if we're not even willing to call attention to it publicly?

Blogger Commentary

Dusting Off the Manual. These days, if you talk to a conservative about Bush, you can usually get him or her to at least concede that Bush has made a few big screw-ups recently. However, start talking about the racist implications of how he's handled Katrina, and you might be accused to flying off the rails, and being a knee-jerk liberal, throwing around wild accusations. These days, calling someone a racist seems to be almost as bad as calling someone the "n word". Digby dissects exactly how and why the Republican party is still racist after all these years, and how they continually use race to divide America apart. Think we're crazy? Does that make you uncomfortable? Digby's got some news for you: "For those who think that we are in a post racist world because George W. Bush appointed blacks to his cabinet, think again. The modern Republican Party was built on the back of an enduring national divide on the issue of race. George Bush may not personally be racist (or more likely not know he's racist) but the party he leads has depended on it for many years."

More Bucks for the Bang Gang. We're tired of hearing how well the economy is doing by people who continually quote GDP statistics. Yes, our GDP may be growing (even though the poorest Americans are being left in the dust), but where's that money coming from? More and more, it's looking like war profiteering. And who's funding it? You guessed it: John and Jane Q. Taxpayer. Charlie Cray quotes some infuriating data: "...total pay for the nation's big war contract CEOs rocketed upwards by 200 percent -- a huge increase compared to the 7 percent pay hike received by most big-company CEOs between 2001 and 2004." Where's the oversight? Shouldn't true conservatives be outraged that taxpayer money is being wasted on overcharges and no-bid contracts? Not as long as that money keeps coming back to their war chests.